Two jet ski-related accidents last weekend have once again highlighted the dangers presented by the high-powered "personal watercraft" and add to a growing toll of injuries and fatalities caused by them.
While the two incidents have yet to be fully investigated by Maritime New Zealand, there are apparently disquieting aspects to both events which appear to reveal some deficiencies in approaches to water safety in this country.
With holiday spots, beaches and lakes heavily populated by swimmers, kayakers and boaties of various descriptions over the peak summer period, the dangers of accidents are heightened.
The police dive squad on Wednesday recovered the body from Rotorua's Lake Okareka of 17-year-old Rotorua Boys' High pupil Bishop Thompson, who had been missing since he was hit by a jet ski at 4pm on Saturday.
Witnesses reported that he had been a passenger on one jet ski and had fallen off into the path of another. He was not wearing a life jacket.
In another, separate incident, an 11-year-old boy has been recovering in Auckland's Starship Hospital with broken ribs, jaw and upper palate following a collision between the power boat he and another 11-year-old were in control of collided with a jet ski driven by a 16-year-old, near Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula last Friday night.
Jet-ski use in New Zealand is governed by the same rules and regulations that cover all power boats of similar sizes.
Drivers of powered vessels have to be 15 or more, the "5 knot rule" requires operators to slow to walking pace when they come close to other vehicles or swimmers, or within 200m of the shore or a dive flag. But beyond these basic rules, the emphasis is on the personal responsibility of the driver or skipper.
"The key factors for safe boating are not rocket science. Just as there are rules for the way we operate motor vehicles on our roads, there are rules that follow us out on the water and govern how we operate our vessels, with awareness of others and care for yourself, your passengers and those in the water near you at the top of the list," said Maritime New Zealand Safety Inspector Jim Lilley in the wake of the accidents, adding that attitudes to safety in recreational boating had to change.
His views echo points registered in a 2007-08 financial review of the Maritime Safety Authority of New Zealand, now Maritime New Zealand, presented to Parliament.
In the review, Maritime New Zealand noted its concern "about the number of serious accidents involving jet skis reported during the summer months".
It said that more work needed to be done on safety standards for jet skis and that although the craft can reach high speeds "there is currently no requirement for training".
It acknowledged that regional councils were responsible for by-laws governing local use of jet skis but suggested that it may be time for the introduction of nationwide regulations to ensure safer use.
To date, this does not seem to have happened, and to the casual observer, for some of whom jet skis will doubtless be a noisy irritant, they would appear to be accidents waiting to happen.
Jet skis are for the most part leisure craft: they exist to have fun out on the water. The combination of power, high speed and high spirits can lead to a degree of reckless driving, or driver inattention.
Excessive speed in itself is always risky and the fact that responsive steering and manoeuvrability is compromised when "dethrottling" can cause control issues.
The final factor at work in many accidents appears to be the relative inexperience of the driver: there is a temptation to regard jet skis as essentially big toys, but in the hands of teenagers on busy waterways they can be every bit as dangerous as powerful motorbikes on the roads.
Mr Lilley is correct of course to emphasise the need for personal responsibility, but moves may have to be made to hasten the introduction of compulsory safety training for drivers of jet skis.
As they become increasingly popular, such is their potential power and speed that further accidents are to be expected.
Beyond insisting on owners and operators participating in safety courses, the next step would be to introduce a licensing system. But that would be a radical step and there are interim measures that have yet to be exhausted.
